Santiago la segunda día

The day when shops, museums and such were once again open. So we planned to see one of the houses of Pablo Neruda, La Chascona. Named after the curly hair of his third (?) wife and love, Matilde Urrutia. He an experienced traveller, a poet and political figure. She definitely a political figure and democracy activist, a brave woman during the time of Pinochet. Pablo died due to cancer just a short time after Pinochet got to the power in 1973. This house being vandalised and brought to ruins but rebuilt by Matilde. She also died in cancer but many years later, unfortunately before democracy was restored in Chile but not far from it. Google their history, it's interesting and both are historic figures well worth to know about.

So much greenery around the house

No pictures allowed inside but outside so that's what I'll show you. The house was filled by travel souvenirs, glasses, plates, paintings etc. Pablo Neruda's different prices was high lighted in one room and amongst them one he valued very much, the Nobel price in literature. Stockholm being one of the more highlighted names in a map with cities that had an impact in his life.

Audio guides as well as a short video of his life was included in the price and I must say I really appreciate the audio guides. In places like this but also in more traditional museums, very convenient.

We had nescafe just before stepping out so we planned for brunch in Bellavista after the house tour. It's good to be at the house at opening hours since it can be quite the wait otherwise. J had read that the hot dog stands we've seen spread out over the city was typically Chilean. So instead of the cosy lunch we found ourselves inside one of these fast food places. In this place you get a hot dog and get to choose from multiple toppings. The sausage itself wasn't exactly a gourmet snack but it was fun to try. We don't feel like another go though :p

Bellavista neighbourhood 

My hot dog included guacamole amongst many other things

J's masterpiece

We stopped by at the apartment to rearrange some stuff and realized we had one of the top choices for wine tasting just around the corner, Bocanariz. So we decided that would be our next touristy thing to try. None of us were up for wine yards anyways, we both seen them in Italy and France and let's be serious, it's the wine we wanna try right? ;-) Although biking around vineyards in NZ is still on the list I must admit...

The fruity ones

The classics

At the restaurant, a play with the senses or someone got confused? 

I tried some fruity flavours while J went with the classics. In my opinion he made the better choice but mine were still tasty. A nice break in the middle of the day.

From wine tasting to a quick fika with some coffee for the addict (J) and next up museum tour. We decided between one that covered more of the recent history with Pinochet and one that covered the history of Chile to begin with, I.e. a very long time ago. We ended up with the latter and wished we had gone with the first one :p They had audio guides and as I told you we like those. Although the museum was very interesting, I recognised a lot from a museum in México. And they had some special exhibition with different senses, like different aromas and games. That was fun. And it's always nice with things you recognise like for me the people of Nasca, Inkas, Mayas, Zapotecas and many more. I find it very hard to remember what ages they're from though. They were English signs inside the museum but the Spanish information was usually more thorough, which you didn't need to know Spanish for. The text was sometimes double the length of the English one and the dates were described in Spanish which can be confusing with A.C and D.C (before respectively after Christ). J recognised a lot from the book he's currently reading, Sapiens. So no complaints of the actual mudeum, just that we were up for something more recent - and audio guides ;-)

After the museum we strolled around small shops, thrift shops and such for a short period of time - our feet and backs were sore from the day before and a lot of walking also this day. Back to Lastarria were we ended up with a cold beer each in our hands. We summoned our day and enjoyed life as twilight entered the neighbourhood. Next up would be the city of street art, Valparaiso.

Buenas noches,
S

A lot of stray dogs around Chile but so far only friendly ones. Everyone so fluffy! Different from stray dogs in warmer countries. I even saw "Pongo" im Valpo.

Anyone up for a swim in the Santiago river?

Street art in Lastarria

Surroundings - so many plants!